Canaccord Genuity Group Raises Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Price Target to $72.00

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) had its price objective hoisted by Canaccord Genuity Group from $44.00 to $72.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 16.75% from the stock’s current price.

VRNA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Verona Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price objective (up previously from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Roth Mkm initiated coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verona Pharma currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $57.14.

Verona Pharma Trading Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ:VRNA opened at $61.67 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.12 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $49.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.50. Verona Pharma has a 52 week low of $11.39 and a 52 week high of $63.50. The company has a quick ratio of 12.88, a current ratio of 13.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 183,728 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total value of $920,477.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,293,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,601,617.36. This represents a 1.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 23,240 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total transaction of $116,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,177,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,887,560. This trade represents a 0.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 952,488 shares of company stock worth $4,743,881. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 36.3% in the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 4,215,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,166 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 2.1% in the third quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 3,383,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,356,000 after purchasing an additional 69,601 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 61.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,025,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,492,000 after purchasing an additional 1,146,609 shares in the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 359.6% in the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 2,425,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Verona Pharma by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,889,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,750,000 after acquiring an additional 148,656 shares in the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verona Pharma Company Profile

Verona Pharma plc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of respiratory diseases with unmet medical needs. The company's product candidate is ensifentrine, an inhaled and dual inhibitor of the phosphodiesterase (PDE) 3 and PDE4 enzymes that acts as both a bronchodilator and an anti-inflammatory agent in a single compound, which is in Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and cystic fibrosis.